Fire-escape.



PATENTEDMEE.v s1, 1903. L. E. EEEEET. EIEE ESCAPE. APPLIOATION FILED MAY8, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

LOUIS HENRI HEBERT, OEA CRAM-RLY BASIN, CANADA, ASSIGNOR OE TWO-TI-IIRDS To NARCISSE LORD, OE sr. JOHNS, CANADA,y AND JOSEPH E. HEBERT,OEST. HENRY, MONTREAL, CANADA.

MRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 723,868, dated March31, 1903. Application filed May 8,1902. Serial No. 106,414. (No model.)

.To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS HENRI HEBERT, a subject of the King of GreatBritain,residin g at Chambly Basin, county of Chambly, Province ofQuebec, Canada, have invented certain new and useful. Improvements inFire- Escapes; and I do hereby declare that the following isa full,clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable oth-Io ers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame..

My invention relates to a portable lire-escape of that type' wherein thefriction of -a rope wrapped about a wooden or metal stock is suicient toregulate the speed of descent of a person from the upper story of abuilding by means of said rope.r

The object of my invention is to so improve this type of apparatus as toenable the zo same to be readily applied and used by any person withoutspecial skill being required in regulating the speed of descent.

Another object had in view in thep-resent invention is to provide meansfor reversing z5 the apparatus, whereby when the apparatus has reachedthe ground by sliding on the rope the rope may be quickly drawn up andreversed in position and the apparatus used equally well by the nextperson to descend 3o upon the apparatus, which is thus made reversibleor double-ended for this purpose.

Another object 'of my invention Yis to provide means for quickly andreadily adjustingr the apparatus to the rope, whereby to regu- 3 5 latethe friction thereof to the weight of the person to be carried, so as toavoid-the necessity of the person himself or herself regulating thespeed of descent by tension upon the lower end of the rope, and,moreover, to 4o provide means for quickly setting the rope in placewithout the necessity of threading the same through apertures anddrawing it therethrough, which consumes valuable time and in emergencymay cause loss of life. To these ends my invention consists in a blockor stock, preferably of wood, around which the-rope is wound, and thesame is provided with a loop of cord at both ends, whereby to render thetwo ends interchangeable and to enable the apparatus to work 5oeitherway equally well whichever `end happens to be uppermost.

My invention further consists in a series of -transverselaterally-extending short posts projecting from the side of the stockaround which the rope is wound and adapted to confine the same and toregulate the friction thereof and keep the several coils or turns of therope in their proper positions and prevent them from interfering withone another. 6o

My invention further consists in arranging a pair oflaterally-projecting posts on the two ends of the stock, which areconnected by a slotted latch-piece `pivoted to one of them and adaptedto lie-clamped to the other,` so as to completely inclose the rope andprevent the same from becoming displaced, while at the .same timeenabling the rope to be readily removed and readj usted by simplyunclamping and turning the latch about its pivot. 7c

My invention further consists in the peculiar construction andcombination of parts hereinafter described, and more specifically setforth in the claims.

I have shown in the accompanying drawings the preferredform ofmy'invent-ion, as well as several modifications thereof which may beused by me, and therein- Figure l is a' perspective view of the saidpreferred form.` Fig. 2 is a perspective view 8o ofthe same in-aslightly-different position,

showing the latch-piece opened and the operating-rope having adierentnumber of turns around the stock. vFig. 3 is a side elevation of amodied form of my invention.

The same numerals of reference denote like parts in each of the figuresof the drawings. As will be seen'from Fig.ll, the apparatus consists,substantially, of a cylindrical stock or post 6, which may be'madeeither of wood 9o or metal, as preferred, and this'stock has on each enda rectangular or cubical head 7, which may be surmounted by anornamental tip 8. Projecting laterally from the stock 6 and along oneside thereof are a series o fshort wooden posts 9, which extend justsufficient distance to provide for the passage of the operating-rope l0between them. On one side of one of the two heads 7 (shown as the lowerhead in Figs. 1 and 2) is pivoted a latch-piece 11 upon a pivot-bolt 12,said latch-piece being herein shown as a dat strip or bar having atransverse slot 13 in its opposite end, which is adapted to embrace theshank of a bolt 14, having on its end a wing-nut 15 and washer 16,adapted to clamp the latch-bar in position, as shown iu Fig. l. Each ofthe heads 7 may also be provided at one side adjacent to the stock 6with a small taper groove adapted to receive the rope and prevent itfrom chafing upon the edge of the head. This form of the apparatus iscompleted by a pair of ilexible loops 18, which are passed lthroughtransverse apertures 19 in each of the heads 7. Y The form shown in Fig.3 is similar to that shown in Figs. 1 and 2 as regards thc stock 6 andthe head 7; but in this form, which is simpler, the posts 9 are omitted,and instead of forming the squared heads 7 to project beyond theperiphery of the stock 6 they are provided with two sheave-lilie blocks20, on one of which is pivoted the latch-bar 1l by means of the bolt 12and clamped in position by the wing-nut 15 on the bolt 14, as in thefirst case. The rou nd concave sheaves 2O provide means for smoothlyreceiving the end turns of the rope where it passes in and out of theapparatus. In Fig. 3 the provision of the pivoted latch-bar ll enablesthe rope to be retained adjustably in its place, having any number ofturns around the stock 6, according to the weight of the persondescending. Naturally a person of,say,seventytive pounds weight willrequire but half the number of turns of the rope that are needed for aperson of one hundred and fifty pounds, so that it is extremelydesirable in an apparatus of this sort to provide for the readyadjustment of the rope to the weight of the person using it. In theoriginal form, Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, this provision is stillfurther amplified by means of the posts 9, it being intended to havesome six or seven of these posts, and I have found by experience thatevery turn or coil of the rope through one of the posts represents aboutthirty pounds weight upon the tire-escape, so that the device asadjusted in Fig. l would be ready for the descent of a person weighingabout ninety pounds and when adjusted as in Fig. 2 for a person of onehundred and fifty pounds weight. The mode of regulation or weightrepresented by each coil of the rope through a post 9 may appropriatelybe represented by a label pasted on the apparatus.

It will be seen by the above description that my improved iire-escapepresents great advantages over anything heretofore iu use and that itnot simply provides for a much more rapid service and less danger ofaccident in using the apparatus, but also provides for a preciseregulation at an instants notice and avoids any necessity of the personhaving to regulate the speed of descent either himself or of havingothers do it for him by additional friction or tension upon the rope orby any other means.

While I have shown in the accompanying drawings the preferred form of myinvention, it will be understood that I do not limit myself totheprecise form shown, for many of the details may be changed in form orposition without affecting the operativeness or utility ot' myinvention, and I therefore reserve the right to make all suchmodications as are included. within the scope ot the following claims orof mechanical equivalents to the structure set forth.

Having now described my invention, what I claim asnew, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, isu

l. A portable fire-escape comprising a cylindrical stock about which arope is adapted to be wound, and a series of laterally-projecting postsset in holes along one side of said stock and adapted to separate `theturns or coils of said rope.

2. A portable fire-escape comprising a cylindrical stock about which arope is adapted to be wound, and a series of laterally-projecting postsset in holes along one side of said stock and adapted to separate theturns or coils of said rope, said posts being separated from one anotherat their free end, whereby to permit coils of rope to be laid betweensaid posts.

3. A portable tire-escape comprising a stock about which a rope isadapted to be wound, and a series of laterally projecting posts adaptedto separate the turns or coils of said rope, said posts being separatedfrom one another at their free end, whereby to permit coils of rope tobe laid between said posts, in combination with a latch piece or baradapted to be removably clamped over the ends of said posts to hold therope in position.

4. A portable lire-escape comprising a stock about which a rope isadapted to be wound, and a series of laterallyprojecting posts adaptedto separate the turns or coils of said rope, said posts being separatedfrom one another at their free ends, whereby to permit coils of rope tobe laid between said posts, in combination with a latch piece or baradapted to be removably clamped over the ends of said posts to hold therope in position, and means attached to each end of the stoel: forsustaining a person.

5. The combination of a cylindrical stock about which a rope is adaptedto be wound, a pair of heads attached to the respective ends of saidstock and projecting laterally therefrom, a latch-bar pivoted on one ofsaid heads and having a transverse slot at its opposite end, andclamping means on the other head coacting with said slotted end of thelatchbar to clamp the same in closed position.

6. The combination of a cylindrical stock about which a rope is adaptedto be wound, a pair of heads attached to the respective ends of saidstock and projecting laterally therefrom, a latch-bar pivoted on one ofsaid heads IOO IIO

and having a transverse slot at its opposite end, clamping means on theother head coacting with said slotted end of the latch-bar to clamp thesame in closed position, and a series of posts disposed at equalintervals along one side of said stock and projecting laterallytherefrom a sucient distance to permit theinsertion of coils of ropetherebetween, substantially as described.

7. The combination of a cylindrical stock about which a rope is adaptedto be Wound, a pair of heads attached to the respective ends of saidstock and projecting laterally therefrom, a latch-bar pivoted on one ofsaid heads and having a transverse slot at its opposite end, clampingmeans on the other head coacting with said slotted end of the latch-barto clamp the same in closed position, and aseries of posts disposed atequal intervals

